The Negative Man: Act 1

by Jeremy Croston

  No one acknowledged him but me. “Find something to cover yourself with!”

  Elephant and Tiger continued their double team attack on Hearts, yet Spades was nowhere to be found. Antelope, Crocodile, who both appeared to be women, and a newly reenergized police force began taking down the army of thugs with precision and lethal force. Antelope could jump, really far, and used two daggers to end the thugs’ attacks.

  Crocodile had the most unusual ability. Behind her was a tail that extended from her lower back. She used it as a bullwhip, snapping gunman and punks with deadly accuracy.

  “Diamonds, this is Spades! Do you have an eye on the situation?”

  I engaged the comm quickly. “Yeah, these newcomers aren’t all that powerful, but they’re very skilled and work wonderfully together. I suggest a hasty retreat.”

  He swore loudly into my ear. “Damnit I know. I can’t believe we didn’t see these idiots coming! At least The Dark-”

  A weird yelping noise cut him off. “You were saying Walker.” The Dark Lion was here.

  “You!”

  The comm was snapped out of Spades ear and I lost communication with him. I still couldn’t see him on the cameras, but I could still watch the mayhem in the station. Hearts was getting pounded on by a giant fist. “Hearts, get out of there!”

  “I don’t retreat!”

  What a stubborn asshole. “Spades is in trouble, The Dark Lion’s here.”

  If my words weren’t enough, Spades body flew in through a window and landed on top of Clubs. The Dark Lion was right behind him, landing neatly in the middle of the chaos. “It’s time we put an end to this once and for all.”

  Spades stood back up and dusted himself off. “You had a chance you fool! Never give me the upper hand!”

  The Dark Lion’s eyes went from Spades to Clubs. “Phil Jenkins… a traitor in my own house.”

  Jenkins, without his mask on, looked terrified. “I… it’s not…”

  “No Jenkins, don’t be ashamed of your decisions.” Spades just stood there stoically, like he had a secret. “Be proud of your ability to stand here with us, as one of The Aces.”

  But it wasn’t the same anymore. Even though he didn’t realize we’d known his identity for weeks, in his mind the cat was now out of the bag. “He’ll kill me, just like he did Diamonds!”

  All I could do is watch as Spades reached into Clubs just with his intangible hand. “This will be quick and for the best.” Clubs looked down in horror and then his eyes rolled back in his head. Spades removed his hand and Phil Jenkins dropped to the ground dead.

  Spades glove was covered in blood. “With that taken care of, I do feel that we’ve overstayed our welcome. Hearts, if you would…”

  The large man blasted a huge projection of energy in both directions. It blew back dead bodies, furniture and put two large holes in the walls. Dust flew up everywhere, clouding my vision from the scene below. The Dark Lion and the Animal Brigade charged the spot blindly, but I knew it was too late.

  As the smoke cleared, I was right. The Dark Lion and the rest began helping the officers in the station and that’s when I cut the feed to the computers here. About five minutes later, Spades came over the comm. “We’re in the van returning. I think the city got my message tonight.”

  If his message was needless violence and death, than yes I’m sure it did. “Is Jenkins really…”

  “A shame, as I really did like him, but he was freaking out and with Wonderton knowing his identity, became a loose end. In fact, it’s time I started cleaning those up as we’re about to go into the final stage of our plan.”

  I knew what he was referring to, but Hearts surprisingly didn’t. “What’s the last step boss?”

  “That’s need to know.” I heard the brakes slam and the door flew open. There were the sounds of a brief struggle before the door closed one more time. “Sorry about that Jericho, I had one last loose end to cut.”

  “Is Hearts dead?”

  The van shifted back into drive, followed by a loud thudding sound. “If he wasn’t before, the van just finished the job.” I think he could sense my apprehension growing. “Jenkins and Trelewicz were never going to be in the final plan. But you Jericho, you can help me make this plan flourish!”

  He sounded like a lunatic. “How can your new hero stop The Aces if half of them are dead?”

  “Half of them aren’t Jericho and that should be enough to finish what we’ve started.” I was worried he was starting to lose his grip. “With your expertise and my execution, I won’t fail!”

  Chapter 28 –

  Friday Evening; Undisclosed Location

  I’d turned the monitors on to the evening news and The Aces’ attack of the Police Station was the top headline for clear reasons. Grimes was already out front of it talking to one of the on scene reporters. “This force, along with the newest task force I just created, will not rest until The Aces are dead!”

  “We’ve talked before Chief and your use of lethal force has come into question. How do you think the public’s opinion will shift after seeing what The Aces did to the police station?”

  Grimes was covered in bruises and cuts, but seemed to be fine otherwise. “They should realize what sort of threat we’re dealing with. This is far worse than The Negative Man. The Aces are like a virus, killing the body that is Pacific Station.”

  “You think The Aces are worse than The Negative Man?” The reporter acted like she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

  Grimes didn’t back down. “The Negative Man was a real asshole, but even he had a code of honor.” Looking directly into the camera, “If The Aces are out there listening, you’re a bunch of gutless pathetic excuses of men. Trust me when I say you’re time is just about up.”

  “Turn that blowhard off. Just listening to him makes me want to vomit.” Spades was back. “It’s a shame I didn’t get a chance to kill Grimes, but there’s always next time.”

  I was on edge as the man walked in and sat down at the far computer console. “He’s got a special task force designed to hunt us. I’m guessing those clowns in the animal masks.”

  “The STD’s? Please, those fools were lucky we weren’t aware of them before. Their surprise is long gone though.”

  I couldn’t get over how cool and calm he was after everything that just happened. Jenkins I could understand, but the fact he killed his oldest friend in cold blood; that was a certain kind of ruthless. “Why should I believe you won’t try to kill me at first attempt?”

  “Like I said Jericho, you can help me, in more ways than you know. Trelewicz was too unstable, a man driven by violence.” He wasn’t wrong there. “And Jenkins was only strong when he thought he was protected by his mask. With that gone, his usefulness ended.”

  “So what do we do next?”

  He pulled his mask off. “We give the city what they want most, the deaths of all The Aces. A new hero will arrive on scene and do just that for them.” He jumped back up, excited. “When the new guy can do what The Dark Lion and the police hadn’t been able to, they’ll welcome him with open arms.”

  I still wasn’t sold on how this could even happen. “Your powers are known. The Dark Lion will know right away it’s you…”

  “I guess we need to kill him first. The last hurrah for The Aces, and a damn good one don’t you think?” He walked over closer, putting me on high alert. “We just put the cops on their heels; just think of our status with The Dark Lion dead. John Q. Public will think we’re untouchable.”

  The elemental gun, the greatest weapon Spades would have, was almost ready. “I’ve almost got it running perfectly. I just have a few more things to straighten out.”

  “Good, because we’re on a strict time table. I don’t know that I can keep The Dark Lion from giving my identity out to the world, especially once they find Trelewicz’s body.” That’d be a huge clue. “I’m going to challenge Wonderton to a one on one fight Sunday night. Get it working by then.”

 
; It would be tight, but I was pretty sure I could. “I’ll be arriving at gl-O-bal early in the morning.”

  “Good. Go, get some rest. I’m counting on you Jericho and you alone.”

  I got out of there rather quickly and went straight home. The state of mind Spades was in didn’t provide me much comfort, but at the same time, I needed to get in contact with DL. I wasn’t about to let a loose cannon like Owen Walker kill him.

  In the safety of my apartment, using encrypted lines, I got an email through to John’s phone. Again, he wasn’t all that computer savvy, but he was world savvy. He would figure out the numbers in the email were latitude and longitude coordinates. Changing clothes, I regretfully stole a neighbor’s bike and went to the location I gave him.

  The library was open twenty-four/seven, but hardly used this late at night. The guards were used to me and tipped their caps. The one on the left told me about the attack on the police station and that I shouldn’t stay out late. I appreciated the heads up and went on in. Little did they know I had my own ways of protecting myself.

  I stood up on the library roof for quite a while. I knew it would take some time for him to get here, so I brought stuff to do. On my tablet, I had uploaded the wiring schematics of the elemental gun. I’d deliver a working gun on Sunday morning, but DL would know exactly how it worked.

  I heard the soft landing of feet not too far from me. The yellow cape blew just out of the shadows. I picked up my tablet and joined DL out of sight. “I didn’t know they were going to do that tonight.”

  “It’s not your fault Jericho. Thanks to you tripping the alarm at the jewelry store a street over, those minor supers were in the area and could provide backup. Without Massacre…”

  DL was definitely having issues being the only real vigilante on the street. He didn’t have his trusted friend to be there to protect him. “That being said, Hearts is dead too.”

  “So it’s just you and Walker?”

  “Yep and be on the lookout, he’s planning on challenging you to a fight Sunday night, just the two of you.”

  He removed his infrared goggles, disdain all over his expression. “Owen Walker thinks he’s going to be the newest Negative Man, doesn’t he?”

  “He has no idea that The Negative Man has put a bounty on The Aces heads.” Which ironically, Walker himself took out two tonight. “He thinks that when it’s all said and done, The Negative Man, the city even, will worship the ground he walks on.”

  “You said you were helping him design a weapon to kill me, well I guess it’s a good time to brief me on that.”

  I pulled out my tablet to show him. “This is an elemental gun. Walker has various chambers he can load in, cold, heat, electricity, and something called aether. With it, he can incapacitate you.”

  DL looked over the pictures and schematics of the gun as I swiped to the left. “Can he change the chambers on the fly?”

  “Just like reloading a regular gun. I must say it’s probably the finest piece of equipment I’ve made.”

  I expected to see more worry, but I didn’t. “What’s his play if this works? Where does he go from here?”

  “The most unbelievable part is he’ll transition into a hero and bring in the rest of The Aces. That’s how he’s going to win the support of Pacific Station.”

  That got a good laugh out of him. “What a fool. He just wants the world to like him.” Putting it in such simplified terms got me to laugh too.

  Composing myself, “The gun is a very real threat. The energy beam may be faster than even your enhanced reflexes. Especially the cold beam, which is the one I’ve experimented the most on due to the threat it poses to you.”

  “Your concern is once again noted, but I knew one day I’d come across a villain who was too much for me. At least in this situation I can take heart in it being you that beat me and not Owen Walker if this gun works.”

  That might sit well with him, but it’d be Owen Walker using the gun. “We’re not going to let that happen. Owen Walker won’t be the one who kills you, that I promise.”

  The Dark Lion put his ungloved hand on me. “I’m guessing you have a plan?”

  “What kind of sidekick would I be if I didn’t?”

  Chapter 29 –

  Saturday Morning; gl-O-bal Labs

  The clock was running. Owen had already messaged me that his challenge had been accepted by The Dark Lion. Sunday night, at Waves Park of all places; Walker had really gone out of his way to rip off The Negative Man.

  I was about to run my next test on the elemental gun when I got a text from Heather. Wanting to know what I was up to, I told her that I was stuck in the lab, working on some last minute project. I did promise I’d be over tonight for dinner so we could talk about how things were going with The Dark Lion. She responded with an ‘okay great’ and a thumbs up. It was nice to see her cheering up again.

  DL kept me in the loop with her training. He said she was just starting her journey, but having a fellow super to talk to helped her nerves. He also was acting as a grief counselor, helping her overcome the immense guilt she had for the attack of The Big Burrito.

  Between her training with DL and me getting stuck with the undercover work, it’d been a tough week for us. With things coming to a head between Spades and The Dark Lion, I hoped this would be it and I could get back to finally being me.

  Grabbing the gun, I resumed the tests. I needed this gun to be operating perfectly as per my cover. The Dark Lion refused to let me booby-trap the gun for him. If his plan was to get himself killed, then he was doing a damn fine job of it. The first test went off well, the gun achieving optimum capacity with the cold chamber in.

  The fire chamber and the electric chamber also went off without hitches, just leaving the aether. As much as I wanted to break open the chamber and see what the mysterious liquid inside was, I loaded it into the chamber. Walker hadn’t really told me much about this and I didn’t want to overly inquire, so there was one way to find out. With the gun stabilized, I loaded the aether one in and engaged the mechanism.

  The blast as I pulled the trigger knocked me down, sent the gun flying, and the target was gone; as in no sign of it. To no one in particular, “What the hell was that?”

  I walked over and picked up the gun. It hadn’t been damaged, but it was pretty hot. I could barely carry it over to the table before my hands were burning. If I was going to set this to work, I needed to know just exactly what I was dealing with finally.

  I made the call. A very perky Owen Walker answered. “Morning Jericho! Do you have good news already?”

  “What I need is information. The cyro, heat, and wind chambers work perfectly. What doesn’t is the aether. Now, I’ve kept my curiosity at bay, but when it makes a target completely disappear, I need answers.”

  “How I’ve awaited today to meet a contemporary to talk to this about.” I got the feeling Hearts and Clubs didn’t provide much stimulus for conversation. “Trelewicz would’ve never understood this and Jenkins was always too busy talking to computers.” Call that intuition. “But you, you appreciate the science and the how to of this world. We’re kindred spirits, you and I.”

  Ahhh, it all made sense. “That’s why you kept me around, isn’t it?”

  “We have similar goals, you and me. I know you don’t approve of my methods most of the time, but you do it to make the city better. Trelewicz and Jenkins were just in it for the fame and fortune.”

  We were getting off track. “Back to the aether, what is it?”

  “The secret to my power. Aether is the material I was able to splice from my own DNA – think of it as my power in physical form.”

  He had broken down his DNA to find the cause of his ability? “Do I even want to know how you did that?”

  “Probably not, but it is the most powerful material I can give for this weapon.” Awe and reverence echoed over the phone line. “With it, I’ll keep this city safe. The citizens of Pacific Heights, in time, will understand might equals
right.”

  I left it at that and said with the information I had; I could get back to work. Walker wished me well and asked for hourly updates through the corporate email, which I said I could do. I was glad to get off the phone with him, as each time we talked he seemed to get further and further off the edge.

  That would be a problem for tomorrow. Today’s problem was the fact Walker had found a way to isolate his power in his own DNA and weaponized it. If word of this got out…

  I was working well into the late afternoon and early evening when I gave it up for the day. I was close to cracking the code to get the aether to not backfire in the elemental gun. What I needed was some time away and some rest. With a fresh mind, I knew I’d get this thing finished by the deadline.

  I had planned to freshen myself up before going to see Heather, but her car was parked outside my place. She knew where the spare key was, so I wasn’t at all surprised to see her in my apartment. What I wasn’t expecting was to see her sitting in the dark like a creeper.

  Closing the door, “Hey, what’s with the weird Godfather thing going on.”

  “We need to talk.”

  This didn’t sound good. “What do we need to talk about?”

  She got up, came over to me and hugged me. “My powers Jericho, I know who gave them to me.”

  “The Negative Man did.”

  “Yeah, that’s right.” She looked at me quite oddly. “I was feeling a bit groggy and haven’t been sleeping well, so I took a nap. The Dark Lion said rest is important for the body to adjust to the manifestation of powers.”

  That seemed like sound advice. “That’s good, I think?”

  “During my nap, it was weird; I almost felt this connection, something that’d been there since I was exposed to The Negative Man’s powers I guess. Anyway, this power led me to The Negative Man himself. He didn’t know I was there, but I could sense his presence.”